Despite a major rush, or boom even, in civil air traffic in the area, the Air Force plans to appropriate the skies of 8 North Dakota counties to expand a training area that until now has been a ways into Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota.

Most states have one or two MOAs that civilian planes have to steer clear of — there’s a major one in northeast North Dakota, north of the Spirit Lake region. But why the Air Force needs yet more of the sky is puzzling. Has there been a buying spree in bombers and fighters I’m not aware of? Last I heard the Air Force was mainly being cut.